Apparatus for filling boxes, trays or the like



April 11, 1967 R. H. ca. RAINE APPARATUS FOR FILLING BOXES, TRAYS OR THE LIKE 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Jan. 25, 1964 A TTORNE 7'5 April 11, 1967 H G. RAlNE 8 3,313,087

APPARATUS FOR FILLING BOXES, TRAYS OR THE LIKE Filed Jan. 25, 1964 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Fig.2.

' INVENTOK BY m fla MAW ATTORN Y5 United States Patent Ofiiice 3,313,987 Patented Apr. 11, 1967 3,313,087 APPARATUS FOR FILLING BOXES, TRAYS OR THE LIKE Roydon Henry Gurney Raine, London, England, assignor to The Molins Organisation Limited Filed Jan. 23, 1964, Ser. No. 339,640 Claims priority, application Great Britain, Jan. 30, 1963, 3,838/ 63 3 Claims. (Cl. 53236) This invention relates to apparatus for filling boxes, trays or the like with comparatively large numbers of articles which are small in relation to the size of the boxes, trays or thelike to be filled. One typical example of an article which may be handled by apparatus embodying the invention is a multiple filter plug for cigarettes (being an article similar in size and shape to a cigarette). Such plugs most economically are made on machines operating at speeds of the order of 15002000 per minute and the plugs made by each machine are discharged into trays which conveniently are capable of receiving 4000 or so plugs each.

In the following description for convenience reference will be made to such multiple filter plugs as the articles which apparatus embodying the invention is to handle but it will be understood that the invention may equally well be applied to apparatus for handling other articles.

A problem substantially always encountered when boxes, trays or the like are being filled with relatively small articles is the bunching of the articles in such manner that the articles at the inside of a bunch are supported by lateral pressure, thus allowing gaps to remain below the centre of the bunch. Filling of boxes, trays or the like therefore tends to be non-uniform and each box, tray or the like accepts a smaller number of articles than its true capacity.

Various expe-dients have been proposed and adopted to reduce or eliminate such bunching. In many types of filling apparatus, each box or tray is moved horizontally as articles are allowed to fall into it, and an elongated support member is extended into the box, tray or the like from above as soon as a leading end wall of the box, tray or the like has passed the loading position, said support member remaining in the box, tray or the like until its trailing end wall approaches the loading position Whereupon the support member is withdrawn upwardly. By this means, articles falling into the box, tray or the like are confined to the space between the leading end wall of the box, tray or the like and the support member and while tending to fill this part of the box, tray or the like to its full height are continuously allowed to spread and subside in controlled manner as the space between the leading end wall and the support member widens with advance of the box, tray or the like.

Arrangements of the type just described have proved effective in securing improved uniformity of filling. However, the most satisfactory arrangement of the support member is one in which said member enters each box, tray or the like with its lower end very close to the inner face of the leading end Wall thereof and preserves this close spacing until the support member reaches its lowest position, so that articles cannot pass between the support member and the end wall. The support member thus needs to be inclined so that its lower end moves horizontally as well as vertically, to permit substantially continuous movement of the boxes, trays or the like as is desirable. However, the inclination of the support member introduces difiiculties when the trailing end Wall of a box, tray or the like approaches; while these latter difiiculties may be overcome by changing the inclination of the support member while it is in its lowest position, the

mechanism necessary to drive the support member then tends to be undesirably complex.

It is an object of the present invention to provide an improved apparatus for filling boxes, trays or the like of the type having a support member movable into and out of each box, tray or the like during filling thereof, in which the inclination of the support member relative to the end walls of each box, tray or the like is altered during filling thereof without undue mechanical complexity.

According to the invention, therefore, we provide apparatus of the type defined for filling boxes, trays or the like, in which the support member is mounted at a loading position so as to be reciprocable along a fixed path, including means for moving boxes, trays or the like in succession past said loading position and guide means arranged to constrain each box, tray or the like to change its attitude while passing said loading position so that the path of said support member on entering and leaving each box, tray or the like is at different angles relative to the leading and trailing end walls thereof respectively.

At present we prefer to arrange that each box, tray or the like is in a descending attitude as its leading end reaches the loading position and a substantially level attitu'de as its trailing end passes said position. However, although this arrangement appears most suitable where cylindrical articles such as cigarettes (or filter plugs therefor) are to be loaded into the boxes, trays or the like, because the attitude of the box, tray or the like when full or nearly full is least conducive to rolling of the articles, it should be noted that alternative arrangements are possible. For example, the path of the boxes, trays or the like may be symmetrical about the loading position, so that each box, tray or the like arrives in a descending and leaves in an ascending attitude, the angles of descent and ascent being less than the angle of descent required in the preferred arrangement. Another alternative is to arrange that the boxes, trays or the like travel in a horizontal path throughout, the leading and/ or trailing ends being lifted at suitable times to produce desired different attitudes of each box, tray or the like as the support member enters and leaves.

In order that the invention may be well understood, a preferred embodiment thereof will now be described reference being made to the accompanying digrammatic drawings, in which:

FIGURE 1 is a side elevation of part of an apparatus embodying the invention, with the support member about to enter an empty tray; and

FIGURE 2 is a similar view of the apparatus of FIG- URE 1 but at the time when the support member is about to leave a nearly full tray.

In both the figures of the drawing there is shown an endless drive belt 1 fitted with spaced pushers 2 and carried on a driving roller 3 connected to a prime mover (not shown) and idler rollers 4. The upper run of belt 1 lies below a supporting plate 5 having a longitudinal slot through which the pushers 2 on the upper run of belt 1 protrude to engage trays 6, 7, 8 carried on the plate 5. The roller 3, and therefore belt 1, is driven in a clockwise direction so that each pusher 2 upon encountering a tray pushes it to the right.

Also shown in both figures is a support member 9 which is movable in a vertical path between an upper position clear of the path of the trays and a lower position (shown in dotted lines in FIGURE 1, full lines in FIGURE 2), one end of a conveyor belt 10 arranged to deliver filter plugs or the like 11 for filling the trays, and a closure plate 12 slidable between a retracted'position below the belt 10 (FIGURE 2) and an extended position (FIG- URE 1) in contact with the support member 9 in which articles delivered by belt 10 are prevented from reaching the trays. The loading position for the trays is, of course, the vicinity of member 9 and the space between member 9 and the left-hand end of the belt 10.

'It should be observed that the supporting plate 5 is so shaped that traystravelling upon it from left to right are initially descending, their inclination to the horizontal being progressively reduced until the leadingend of each tray reaches a point 13, about half a tray length to the right of the path of support member 9. At this stage each tray has reached a level attitude (ie, its bottom is horizontal) and thereafter it travels in a horizontal path.

In the condition of the apparatus shown in FIGURE 1, tray 6 is full and travelling away to the right, pushed by tray 7 whose trailing end is engaged by one of the pushers 2; the top edge of the leading end wall of tray 7 has just passed under the lower end of support member 9, which member has commenced descending into the tray 7. The rate of descent of member 9 is so chosen, relative to the speed of travel of the tray (as determined by its drive through belt 1 and pusher 2) that the bottom end of the member 9 remains almost in contact With the inner face of the leading end wall of the tray and in any event does not lag behind so far that clearance between the member 9 and the said inner face is sufficient for articles being delivered by belt 10 to drop therebetween.

Once the member 9 has started to descend as shown in FIGURE 1, plate 12 starts to move to the right, at such a speed that the left-hand end of the plate 12 which has a down-turned flange 14, remains a little to the left of the leading end wall of the tray '7. Thus articles delivered by belt 10 may fall into the tray 7, but are caught in the space 15 (which is progressively widening) between the inner face of the leading end wall of tray 7 and the support member 9; the articles therefore are constrained to descend into the tray at the speed of descent of the member 9. When said member 9 reaches its lowest position, and stops, the space 15 will be full and as the tray continues to move to the right, further articles delivered will keep the space full as its volume increases, due to the growing separation between said leading end wall of tray 7 and the member 9. It will be seen that articles thus continue to be prevented from dropping freely for any substantial distance; as the said separation increases, articles already in the tray tend to spread sideways and settle, making room for further articles at and near the top of the tray.

When the tray is almost full, the parts of the apparatus appear as in FIGURE 2, and belt 1 stops briefly while the support member 9 is lifted clear of the tray. Belt 10 may if desired be temporarily stopped at this stage, but in any event, as the member 9 moves clear of the tray, plate 12 slides to the left, to the position shown in FIGURE 1 and cuts off the supply of articles to the tray 7. Movement of belt 1 is then resumed, and the operations described repeated to fill the tray 8. In the interval between the time when plate 12 moves to the left (closes) and its return to the right (opening), if articles continue to be delivered by belt 10 they accumulate upon the plate 12, above which there is a space sufficiently large to receive those arriving during said interval.

It will be seen that during the entry of member 9 into each tray, the attitude of the tray relative to the path of the support member 9 allows the descent of articles to be properly regulated, while when the position of FIG- URE 2 is reached andmember 9 is lifted, the different attitude of the tray allows withdrawal of the support member without undue disturbance of articles in the tray, whichare allowed to spread to the left to fill the space vacated by member 9 and complete the filling of the tray.

As clearly depicted in the, drawings, the supporting member 9 preferably comprises .a straight blade or partition reciprocata ble in its own plane.

Various changes and modifications may be made in the apparatus described without departure from the scope of the invention. Thus for example the support member 9 may be mounted at a different angle, and/or means other than the belt 1 and pushers 2 may be employed for driving trays to and past the loading position.

I claim:

1. An apparatus for filling a container with articles so as to prevent bunching of the articles, comprising: an endless container conveyor for moving a container, a point along said container conveyor constituting a loading station, said container conveyor including guide means for varying the attitude of a container moving thereon in the vicinity of said loading station, said guide means having a concave conveying surface, an article conveyor for delivering articles to a container on said container conveyor, the discharge of said article conveyor being located above said container conveyor at said loading station, a support member adjacent the discharge of said article conveyor and spaced therefrom for controlling the loading of articles into a container, said support member being movable along a path from an upper position clear of a container on said container conveyor and a lower position inside of a container on said container conveyor, and means cooperating with said article conveyor for controlling the flow of articles therefrom through said space to a container on said container conveyor.

2. -An apparatus as claimed in claim 1, inwhich said concave conveying surface of the guide means is arranged to give each container a descending attitude as its leading end passes said loading stationand a substantially level attitude as its trailing end passes said loading station.

3. An apparatus as claimed in claim 1, in which said container conveyor comprises an endless drive belt fitted with spaced pushers arranged to protrude through a longitudinal slot in said concave conveying surface of the guide means to engage containers carried thereon.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,572, 0 1'0/ 1951 Molins 53-236 3,024,585 3/ 1962 Schubert et al. 5 3236 3,137,110 6/1964 Boinnard 52236 FOREIGN PATENTS 597,983 9/ 1959 Italy.

TRAVIS S. MCGEHEE, Primary Examiner.

FRANK E. BAILEY, Examiner.

P. H. POH'L, R. ALVEY, Assistant Examiners. 

1. AN APPARATUS FOR FILLING A CONTAINER WITH ARTICLES SO AS TO PREVENT BUNCHING OF THE ARTICLES, COMPRISING: AN ENDLESS CONTAINER CONVEYOR FOR MOVING A CONTAINER, A POINT ALONG SAID CONTAINER CONVEYOR CONSTITUTING A LOADING STATION, SAID CONTAINER CONVEYOR INCLUDING GUIDE MEANS FOR VARYING THE ATTITUDE OF A CONTAINER MOVING THEREON IN THE VICINITY OF SAID LOADING STATION, SAID GUIDE MEANS HAVING A CONCAVE CONVEYING SURFACE, AN ARTICLE CONVEYOR FOR DELIVERING ARTICLES TO A CONTAINER ON SAID CONTAINER CONVEYOR, THE DISCHARGE OF SAID ARTICLE CONVEYOR BEING LOCATED ABOVE SAID CONTAINER CONVEYOR AT SAID LOADING STATION, A SUPPORT MEMBER ADJACENT THE DISCHARGE OF SAID ARTICLE CONVEYOR AND SPACED THEREFROM FOR CONTROLLING THE LOADING OF ARTICLES INTO A CONTAINER, SAID SUPPORT MEMBER BEING MOVABLE ALONG A PATH FROM AN UPPER POSITION CLEAR OF A CONTAINER ON SAID CONTAINER CONVEYOR AND A LOWER POSITION INSIDE OF A CONTAINER ON SAID CONTAINER CONVEYOR, AND MEANS COOPERATING WITH SAID ARTICLE CONVEYOR FOR CONTROLLING THE FLOW OF ARTICLES THEREFROM THROUGH SAID SPACE TO A CONTAINER ON SAID CONTAINER CONVEYOR. 